Thursday, September 6, 2007
Most people, when informed that they have mesothelioma, experience feelings of helplessness. However, there are numerous things you and your loved ones can do.
When you understand your illness and its treatment it will allow you and your family to know what to anticipate and know what things to do to support your treatment. Talk to professionals who have a wide range of knowledge about mesothelioma such as doctors, nurses and social workers at the main mesothelioma centers. It may be easier if you make a list of questions prior to seeing the doctor. Sometimes it is difficult to remember what to ask and also to remember the answers given, so take a friend or relative to help remind you.
During treatment or when you are recovering from treatments, you might not be capable of doing things you used to do. However, as your health improves attempt minor tasks and then slowly try to do a little additional. Success will provide you confidence, but keep in mind to be patient and take it easy. Everyone wants to enhance the way they feel and there are ways in which this can be achieved. They include following a healthy, well-balanced diet, gradually trying to do a little more, learning relaxation techniques and exercising on a regular basis.
Only do these tasks if you have a desire to and only if it makes you feel healthier. All kinds of suggestions with regards to what you ought to do come from friends or relatives who mean well. However, you do not have to make any impulsive or radical changes to your everyday life. If you have been treated or diagnosed recently, then you may possibly feel you have had sufficient change for a while. If you choose to exercise then build up gradually, slowly try to do a little more, base the kind of exercise on how strenuous it is, how frequently you do it and on what you are accustomed to and how healthy you feel.
Joining a support group is highly recommended by a lot of people. Although there may not be a support group especially for mesothelioma patients in your vicinity, joining a support group for cancer patients will work. If you are at home more than you were, you may want to get a dog. You'll get exercise on a daily basis and meet a lot of people when taking it out for walks.
Visit Joyce's site for more free Mesothelioma information and resources at Mesothelioma Info.
HOW TO AVOID ELDERLY FRAUD & FREE IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION
Be sure to protect both you and your loved ones identity and finances. It is really a simple process and it's free. You contact any of the three national credit rating agencies and tell them your identification may have been compromised. You need to mark the date you called the credit bureaus because you have to continue to make these calls every 6 months or yearly. They will put an alert on your information and nobody can get credit in your name without the creditor calling you first for your approval. If your relative has moved make sure you list the new phone number. The Federal Trade Commission website and phone number is also listed below. The Department of Justice has a website below that is full of important information on this subject and other ways to protect your loved ones.
Equifax P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA 30374-0250 888-766-0008 http://www.eqifax.com
Experian P.O. Box 1017, Allen, TX 75013. 888-397-3742 http://www.experian.com
Transunion P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634. 800-680-7289 http://www.transunion.com
Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Clearinghouse Ph: 877-438-4338 FTC's free identity theft guide ?Take Charge,? http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html
Database Theft & Hacking Keep your personal financial information off of corporate marketing databases to lower your risk that your information will be hacked and taken. To have yourself removed from many mailing lists for up to 5 years contact the association below.
DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION Mail Preference Service P.O. Box 643 Carmel, NY. 10512 http://www.the-dma.org
SIMPLE WAY TO AVOID FRAUD
Elderly people are easy targets for con artists. The way these people get to the elderly to swindle them is by phone. You need to take fraud seriously because some elderly people get their whole life savings wiped out. They succeed in tricking the elderly out of their money because it is hard for them to hang up on telemarketers. Your loving elders don't want to be rude and hang up.
Place your relatives phone number on the do not call list and after 30 days you won't receive any telemarketing calls. Now if you do get calls, train your elder to immediately say, ?I'm on the Do Not Call List.? Any reputable company representative will then discontinue any further chat and hang up. Teach your elder to hang up as soon as she tells them she is on the list. Their company could receive severe fines from government authorities. Now if she gets a call and they continue to talk after being informed that she is on the do not call list, you can be fairly certain that they will be talking to con artists and she definitely needs to hang up. After an experience like that she may have no problem hanging up the phone.
It occurs to me that some elderly people may stay on the phone because they are lonely and want somebody to talk to. Maybe we should call our relatives more often so they won't be so lonely to have to talk to predators.
However, we should never underestimate our elders. I got a good laugh when an elderly gentleman I knew stopped a telemarketer in his tracks. Somebody from a newspaper or magazine called him trying to sell him a subscription. He lied and told the phone solicitor that he doesn't know how to read. The telemarketer didn't know what to say next, obviously embarrassed.
Don't delay; call the Do Not Call List number now. You can also check with your State Attorney General for a state do not call list.
DO NOT CALL LIST 1-877-382-4357
HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR NATIONS LARGE ELDERLY POPULATION SHIFT
Everyday 10,000 Americans celebrate their 65th Birthday. By the year 2030 over 70 million Americans will be senior citizens. As this wave of seniors marches forward we need to prepare for this transition. By planning ahead we can ensure that we are capable of offering quality care to our thoroughbred Americans.
Do not expect our government to be prepared for this. Although they are making changes, this wave is so massive and affects so many different areas of our society that we will not be ready. All Americans will all be affected by this situation. It will be up to each and every one of us to assist our nation during this transformation.
Businesses and individuals who start planning and make changes now will also benefit during this period. The cost to care for our seniors will be tremendous reaching in the billions. Some changes and different ways we can adapt to the future are below.
Hospitals will need to hire valet or parking attendants because of the large numbers of seniors needing assistance walking. Seniors and their care givers will not be able to walk across long parking lots. An alternative would be to build high rise parking garages attached to the hospital.
Nurses will be offered fast track career opportunities and larger responsibilities. To prepare now they should take American History classes as well as business courses.
The history classes will enable them to communicate and understand the elders better. The business courses will assist them in offering congregate care to communities or starting their own business.
Contractors and homeowners need to start building or installing elevators in two-story homes. There are medical tax incentives that dramatically reduce the cost to install them in homes. When they design bathrooms they should allow space for dual sinks and plenty of room in the event of the need for wheel chair accessibility. They also need to get in the habit of installing wider doors or even sliding doors that are concealed within walls for this same reason. Using larger address numbers would assist emergency vehicles. Handicap accessible options could turn out to be good selling points in the future. Energy efficient and secure homes should be mandatory versus optional.
Currently there are under 7000 geriatric doctors across our nation. With 70 million baby boomers headed our way it may be a good idea for doctors to start shifting to this area. Veterans of war do not appreciate going to the V.A. Hospital and always being treated by a doctor from another country. Politically correct or not, they have their own mind and beliefs and we will have to adopt to it.
Website owners offering a selection of categories need to offer the section of elder or senior care to the family category. There will need to be products developed in this area comparable to the needs of our citizens. You may want to increase the size of your fonts so everybody has equal access to the content.
Businesses and community leaders need to start placing adult and child care facilities in the same building and possibly let these generations mingle together periodically. The young children need the love and wisdom the seniors have to offer. This will also be convenient to the multi-generation families and allow them to proceed with their career.
This is just a few of the many changes that we can start right now to assist our great nation. By planning ahead and working together we can handle any situation. There is opportunity around every corner.
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